Former England and Irish and British Lions international Austin Healey offers
his verdict on Stuart Lancaster's England side's performance in defeating
Scotland 38-18 at Twickenham, retaining the Calcutta Cup.

Debut delight: England's Billy Twelvetrees celebrates after scoring a try on his Test debut against Scotland in the Six NationsPhoto: EPA

We saw that England have options in every position and, if you are going to sustain a challenge or win something, you need strength in depth. I will use Billy Twelvetrees as an example.

Manu Tuilagi was outstanding against the All Blacks and we bemoaned his loss to injury. I felt that while Billy runs good lines and distributes well, he was not the strike runner we needed. However, it was like he had been there all his life. His was an outstanding performance.

Moving things on, however, if there is to be a permanent position for him, then we will need to find better strike runners out wide. Twelvetrees, Alex Goode and Owen Farrell would get my vote for the Ireland game, but all three would fit into the category of playmaker.

Maybe we could bring in someone like Christian Wade to give us pace out wide? I would even consider replacing Chris Ashton, who despite playing quite well against Scotland, does not contribute as much as he used to.

Still, what a nice position that Stuart Lancaster finds himself in. It’s not quite an embarrassment of riches, but it’s not far off.

Back row balance

I’m worried about Ben Morgan’s injury, of course, but up until he left, I thought the balance in the back row was spot on. You’ve got Chris Robshaw, the eternal hard nut Englishman; Morgan, our number one ball carrier and Tom Wood, who is the new Richard Hill. I thought he was outstanding, a true blindside who slots in perfectly with the other two.

It’s such an important area of the game and we look in good shape. Robshaw showed great leadership, too.

He took some criticism in the autumn, but he was exemplary yesterday, overseeing an efficient England performance. The only surprise was that Twickenham was so quiet. Maybe people are still in shock after the All Black victory.

Lancaster and selection

I spoke a great deal about the Six Nations selection post-New Zealand and how Stuart Lancaster might look at moving on. In hindsight I think he got it spot on.

Coaches talk about unity, consistency and spirit and I suppose, in the wake of such a superb performance against the world champions, it would have been folly to have changed anything.

I think the only two players missing from that game were Alex Corbisiero and Tuilagi and both of them were absent due to injury.

The selection for the Ireland might be a little harder. I honestly believe that whoever wins that game will go on to win the Championship. It’s my belief that Ireland and England are the two best sides in it.

What will Lancaster do? I think one area he might change things is the front row. Youngs was outstanding, but England were demolished in Dublin two years ago due to a lack of leadership.

They need players who can lead from the front and I think Dylan Hartley is the horse for that particular course.

That side of their game was excellent and it will have to be for again the trip to Dublin. It’s certainly area in which they have shown significant improvement in recent times.

Number 10

Let’s get one thing straight, the No. 10 jersey is sewn into Farrell’s back at the moment and nobody is taking that off him. At club level, he might not have replicated last season’s form this time around, but he was excellent against Scotland and played with a level of control that his coach would have enjoyed.

I like Toby Flood and Freddie Burns is the future. However, for now, we don’t need to look any further than the present incumbent. One footnote as the side heads for Ireland is we will need to brush up on our blindside defence.

Scotland scored a try from exposing that area and others can, too. Still, I left Twickenham a happy man and content in the knowledge that the victory over the All Blacks was not a flash in the pan.

Austin Healey is part of ESPN’s live coverage of the Aviva Premiership throughout the season. ESPN is lead broadcaster for the league.